ELIZABETHTON — The Carter County School Board gave a chilly reception to the recommendations of the Long Range Facilities Planning Team on Monday afternoon. The team’s report and recommendations were discussed in a workshop session, so no vote was taken, but the comments of some board members made it clear they would not support it.
The recommended option was to build a new high school to replace the four current high schools in the county. There would also be consolidation of middle schools and elementary schools to reduce the total number of schools to nine. That would be done by renovating existing buildings. The projected total cost is $100 million.
Dave Buck, a school board member from the western section of the county, said “I am opposed to this plan because it wipes out the schools on the west end of the county.” Buck noted the recommendation that Central, Keenburg and Range elementary schools and Happy Valley High School should be closed.
Craig Davis, who represents Stoney Creek, said some of the students who now go to Unaka would not drive to the recommended location of the centralized high school on Gap Creek Highway near Hampton. He said parents have told him their children would rather drive to Elizabethton High School.
Board Chariman Kelly Crain said, “I am concerned about two things, the geography and the financing. It would be a major burden on the taxpayers.”
Board member Jerry McMahan, who led the planning team, said the financing could be handled in several ways to make it more manageable. One would be to just borrow enough for the high school and use the savings from consolidation to pay for the consolidations at the lower grades. There was a wide degree of opinions on what a new high school would cost, ranging from $30 million to $100 million.
Director of Schools Kevin Ward said now is a good time to build, based on the low bond rates.
While the planning team’s recommendation was for a consolidation to nine schools in the county, with only a single high school, there were several other options provided in the team’s strategic report. He said the team had provided the numbers to use for other considerations.
McMahan said the county could not postpone a decision indefinitely.
He said the team spent a lot of time getting the data for a snapshot of the county’s condition so that the best decision could be made for what was best for the students and what was best for the taxpayers.
He asked if the taxpayers could afford the burden for 20 years, but also asked if the taxpayers would be paying even more if nothing was done.
“Our infrastructure is falling down,” McMahan said. “It is going to cost a lot more ... You can’t afford to do it and you certainly can’t afford not to do it.”
He said a decision to do nothing was “awfully short term and narrow minded.”
“There are other ways to skin the cat,” Ward said, referring to the other options in the strategic plan. He said discussions could continue in small groups.
“Do we need to make a decision tonight?” Ward asked. “I don’t think so, but I agree with Mr. McMahan that we can’t wait 20 years.”
Ward suggested more discussion on the matter be held after a more short-term decision be made on whether to close Range Elementary School.
BTDT writes:
March 19, 2013
9:15 AM
NO decision is better than a bad decision.....one consolidated HS in the county will never work for 4 reasons: MONEY to pay for it, location for the site, lack of community support and safety. Cponsidering the recent undercover operation at one of the local HS, wouldn't consolidating all the students jus tmake for a larger drug problem as well as many other safey issues? The county is NOT growing...spend the money you have repairing and upgrading current facilities.
jessjaja writes:
March 19, 2013
11:44 AM
If Range is closed more will follow. We need to fight to keep Range open or it will be the start of a huge mess!
tackycat writes:
March 19, 2013
1:17 PM
My son will never go to a consolidated school his dad and I graduated from Happy Valley and we loved that schoold dearly I think that by closing the schools would be a huge mistake!!! that would end sports for the county because it would be one huge school....they just need to leave the whole county alone let children enjoy their school just as their parents did....I would vote against it a million times.... why do we need to spend this kind of money on something that doesnt need changed and why do we not spend that money on something better....
DrPat writes:
March 19, 2013
3:11 PM
tackycat's comment "they just need to leave the whole county alone let children enjoy their school just as their parents did" appears to endorse the current inferior state of Carter County schools. Doesn't it?
tackycat writes:
March 19, 2013
7:46 PM
DrPat I do not think that it endorses an inferior state I just think it's a bad idea all together. There is nothing wrong with the schools the way they are right now, there have been plenty of Doctors and Lawyers, Nurses, Congressman who went to these schools. The county should look at other things that money could be spent on such as there are over 700+ children who are in the custody of DCS and need placed with families who can care for them and the money could assist in the care for these children. There are many children who need help but cannot get the help they need from the state/counties they live, they will only help with a situation if there is a blood relation to the 5th degree...now really tell me how close is a 5th degree family member to another? I am not close at all with a 5th degree family member....I just feel like the money could be spent otherwise.
daddyron writes:
March 19, 2013
11:22 PM
could we not take the 100 million and fix the schools or we could just shuffle the kids around so they cant get a good education and then we can spend the money on them to keep them housed in the county jail because they have no job because they cant read or write and have to steal to make money come on carter county lets give our kids a chance
dogloverforever writes:
March 19, 2013
11:34 PM
Seriously!! Have you checked the "report card" for Carter County Schools on the state web site? Something needs to be done. I do not agree with the one high school concept, but I do agree that Range needs to be closed and that money needs to be used to buy books and other materials to teach our children on the level of the city schools. The majority of the school buildings in Carter County are old and are costing a small fortune to maintain, our children deserve better.
There is nothing wrong with a little change from time to time, and I totally believe that it is time for some change in Carter County Schools. What are people afraid of? I do not see how the closing of one under performing school would be the such a bad thing.
BTW I had a child that went to Range, it didn't take me very long to figure out that my child needed to be somewhere else.
daddyron writes:
March 20, 2013
7:10 AM
doglover i also have 4 boys at range there grades have never been better i have one that went from f's to straight A's and i feel had he not been at range with the good teachers and the one on one this would not have happend so i have to disagree with you
provided.